As It Should Be
by a-lovely-young-lady
Summary: Damon didn't know why he cared. She wasn't his problem. But he couldn't make himself not care;he had to save her. Slightly AU.
1. Chapter 1

The first time he caught sight of a bruise on her left wrist, his undead heart skipped a beat. The darkened ring marring the skin of her wrist caused his mind to go into overdrive with the need to find who dared lay their hands on her and tarnish her flawless caramel skin and _punish _them; to _kill _them. He quickly caught himself and gritted his teeth turning away from her and shaking the absurd thoughts from his head. Bonnie Bennett was _not _his problem.

The second time, the Scooby Doo gang were coming up with _yet another _plan to save Elena Gilbert's life. She was flipping mindlessly through her witch's cookbook, searching for something, _anything_, to save her friend from the latest evil to sweep through Mystic Falls, thirsting for the doppelgänger's blood. The baggy sweater that she was wearing had slipped down to expose a section of her shoulder. The usually smooth skin had been tainted by a large discolouration that stretched from her shoulder down her arm. He just knew that the worst has been hidden by her clothes. She looked up suddenly, caught his glaring at the exposed skin and, with wide, panicked eyes, tugged her jumper back over the offending part of her body. His eyes snapped up to her, blazing with fury and the promise that they _would definitely _be talking about this later.

She tried to run from him. The second that the meeting at the boarding house had ended, she had packed up her grimoire and fled to her girly little Prius, speeding out of the driveway before he had the time to corner her. He should have waited, given her a head start, let her think that he was letting it go, but he was so consumed by his rage that it was burning him from the inside out, devouring him, and yet instead of burning out, the flames got bigger, taller, higher, feeding his new-found obsession. Before he knew it, he was outside her house, pounding on the door.

"Let me in, Bennett, or I swear I will break this damn door down." His threat had the desired effect and in minutes, she was standing in the open doorway, her eyes planted firmly on the ground, her body quivering with fear. But that wasn't right. Bonnie Bennett didn't do fear-she sure as hell wasn't afraid of _him_.

"Damon." Her voice was quiet and he knew immediately that his suspicions were correct. She wasn't just afraid of him-she was terrified. Using Herculean strength, he reigned in his temper and in the calmest voice he could manage, gritted out,

"What is going on?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Damon." And his anger was back in full force.

"DON'T YOU **DARE **LIE TO ME, YOU HEAR ME?!" He roared, slamming his palm down on the doorframe. Bonnie flinched back, stumbling against her feet to get away from him, tripping over her own feet and falling to the ground with an anguished cry. He was beside her immediately, his eyes running over her small frame, closely followed by his hands as he checked her body for injuries.

"Bonnie? What's wrong? Dammit Bennett, what happened?"

"My…side." She gritted out. He lifted her into his arms and peered at the side that had hit the floor and the sight of blood staining her shirt caused his knees to buckle and bile to rise in his throat. Cautiously lifting her shirt, he physically gagged at the sight of a huge wound on her side. It was clearly an relatively fresh wound which just begun to heal and had been reopened by her fall. "Bonnie." He whispered, his breath coming out in short pants. For the first time in his undead existence, blood _sickened _him. "Bonnie, what happened to you?" Tears streamed down her face, her eyes showing the soul of a broken girl.

"He…didn't mean…to. He promised he…would stop. He…loves me." She panted, her hand clutching at her bleeding side.

"Who? Who is hurting you like this, Bonnie?" Her eyes locked with his, shimmering with unshed tears. His heart broke at the sight of this beautiful, passionate girl who had gradually been used and abused until she was nothing more than a shell of her former self.

"J-Jeremy." He growled low in his throat, his temper flaring at the thought of the newly buffed-up Jeremy laying his hands on this tiny slip of a girl. "Damon, he's…dealing…with a lot…he's trying…to stop the…urge to kill…vampires…he didn't mean…to. Don't hurt...him…please." She was losing a lot of blood. He could see her fighting to hold onto consciousness. "Please, Damon. Promise." Clenching his fists, he scowled at the selfless, judgy little thing in his arms and begrudgingly agreed.

"Fine. But if I ever see him near you again, I will make him feel twice as much pain as he made you feel." She smiled weakly.

"I wouldn't…expect any less...from you." His scowl lessened as he bit gently into his wrist and placed it at her lips.

"Just take a bit, Bennett. Just a little bit." She latched onto his arm and after a few pulls, turned her head away and nestled into the crook of his arm.

"So tired." She murmured.

"Sleep. I'm here for you. It's all going to get better. I'm going to help you."

_He could no longer hide behind the excuse of Elena. The Bennett witch had wormed her way under his skin and into his heart. There were a lot of words left unsaid, but they had forever to say them. She was his and he was hers. All was as it should be._


	2. Chapter 2

_Elena knew. _

She had known for a while now, but the look on Damon's face when he had carried a slumbering Bonnie into the boarding house only confirmed her suspicions-Damon was in love with Bonnie.

At first, she had been shocked. _Damon and Bonnie? _It made no sense. Damon had been in love with Elena for 3 years. He didn't even _like _Bonnie and the feeling was very much mutual. There was no love lost between those two. And yet, there was no other explanation for the longing, lingering stares that she often caught her –_boyfriend? lover?_- aiming at the petite witch when she wasn't looking; she wasn't even sure if he was aware that he had been doing it.

Then she was angry. She was _Elena Gilbert_. She never came second place to anyone. With just a small smile, a batting of her eyelashes and a flick of her chocolate hair, she could bring anyone, male or female, to their knees.

She knew that her relationship with Damon had been strained these past few weeks after Stefan had told the two of them that he wanted nothing to do with them ever again, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed if they both did their parts. But that was where the problem lay.

Damon wasn't working hard enough to fix them.

Avoiding her at all costs, drinking enough to give a whole nation liver damage, _falling in love with Bonnie_. It was like he was determined for their relationship to fail.

And yet, she couldn't blame him.

Bonnie did little to discourage his new found 'feelings' for her. With her low cut tops, skin-tight jeans and her exotic features, she was pretty much asking for it. Elena knew that it was Bonnie's fault.

_She was going to have to deal with her, and quickly._

* * *

"My, my, my. Jeremy Gilbert, you have been a bad boy lately, haven't you?" Jeremy spun around to glare into the glacial eyes of his sister's new flame-Damon Salvatore.

"What do you want, asshole? Elena's not here." Damon smirked, although his eyes revealed his barely concealed fury as he watched the _boy _in front of him. His muscles bulged under his shirt and all Damon could do was imagine him hitting Bonnie, slapping her, punching her, _beating her_. He growled lowly in his throat, struggling to maintain his composure.

"You know, I would have expected her to be at the boarding house, but considering you're here, I've gotta say, it's sad that even with a sire bond, you can't have a loving, faithful relationship. Not really surprising though." Damon laughed bitterly.

"You're going to talk to me about loving relationships? Really, kid?" Jeremy frowned.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Damon smirked.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Tell me, were you _lovingly _slapping Bonnie around? Are those bruises on her body a reminder of your perfect relationship?" Jeremy's face darkened dangerously, but Damon was too infuriated to care. "Were you showing her how much you love her when you were laying your hands on her? Did it make you feel like a man, huh? Come on, Gilbert, tell me! You had a lot to say just a minute ago. Enlighten me!" Damon's eyes were wild and his fury was evident in the lines of his face as he restrained himself from throwing Jeremy out of the nearby window.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Jeremy forced out through gritted teeth.

"Oh but I do. It's near impossible for me not to know considering _I _was the one holing Bonnie as she bled all over her floor." Jeremy's face paled.

"What are you talking about? What happened? Is she okay?" Damon frowned.

"Don't pretend to care, kid. Just know that if I see you anywhere near her again, I will personally rip off your arms and shove them down your pathetic little throat. Got it?" Jeremy's eyes narrowed and before he knew it, Damon was on his back with a stake buried deep into his gut.

"Let's get one thing straight, Damon. I'm stronger now, which means I could easily take your decrepit ass out. Don't ever threaten me again, and stay the hell away from my girlfriend. _You _got it?" With that, he stood to his feet and sauntered out of the room, brushing his hands off as he went. Damon moaned in pain.

"Gilbert, I am going to _kill _you."

* * *

"Hey, Bon. I made you some tea." Bonnie smiled gratefully at Elena, taking the cup from her and gingerly sipping the hot contents. Elena watched her carefully. The sedatives in the drink would take effect soon, and then she could finally get rid of Bonnie-permanently.

_Bonnie would be gone soon, and then she and Damon would be so happy. Everything would work out._


	3. Chapter 3

She was gone.

As soon as Damon walked into the boarding house slurping on a blood bag, he knew that Bonnie had left. The aura of power that he always felt surrounding her was absent as was the strong smell of _Bonnie _that surrounded her wherever she went. Sighing, Damon dropped the empty blood bag in the bin as he made his way up the stairs.

"Elena?" He called.

Silence.

"Elena, you here?" More silence met his ears. That was weird. Elena rarely left the boarding house lately, unless he asked her to or he was with her. Frowning, he made his way into his room where Bonnie's scent was at its strongest. Taking a deep breath, he sat on the edge of the bed, burying his face into his hands.

* * *

_Something was wrong._

There was a dull throbbing in her head, an icy wind blowing over her skin and a dry burn in the back of her throat. Bonnie knew almost instantly that something was off. Wrenching her eyes open, she peered around in the darkness.

_There was someone there. _

She could sense them, in the shadows, obscured by the darkness, _watching her_. Lifting herself up, she twisted to lean her upper body on her forearms.

"Who's there?" Her voice came out croaky due to the dryness of her throat. "What did you do to me? What do you want?" Her voice rose in pitch, her hysteria and panic evident.

Something in the shadows moved. She held her breath, her heart pounding in her chest.

A lone figure stepped out of the shadows, a figure with the face of her best friend. That couldn't be right – Elena would _never _hurt her.

"Katherine?" A smirk lit up her face.

"Wrong. Come on, Bonnie, you don't remember your own best friend?" Horror flitted across Bonnie's face.

"E-Elena?"

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner!" Bile rose up in Bonnie's throat. It was impossible. Why would Elena kidnap her?"

"Elena, what's going on? What happened?" Elena's maniacal grin disappeared suddenly and her face twisted into a sneer.

"Did you think that you can take him from me, huh? You thought you can steal him right out from under my nose and I wouldn't notice?"

"Elena, what are you talking ab-"

"DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME!" Bonnie flinched at the rage in Elena's voice. "You think I don't know what you're trying to do? Damon is _mine_." Bonnie frowned.

"Elena, I really don't understand what you're talking about. What does Damon have to do with anything?" All emotions disappeared from Elena's face and her voice came out cold.

"I can't let you have him, Bonnie. I won't let you have him."

"El-" Using vampiric speed, Elena raced to Bonnie's side. The last thing Bonnie heard was the sickening snap of her own neck before everything went black.

* * *

For weeks, Stefan Salvatore had searched tirelessly for a way to remove a sire-bond between two vampires. The person that Elena had turned into was not the woman that he was in love with – there had to be a way to cure her. Yet so far, he had found nothing. The only way for Elena to be unsired was for her to either become human again or for her to…well, die. And there was no way that Stefan could allow the latter option. This cure was his last hope, his last chance to free the woman that he loved. Lately, she had been acting more erratic and it was getting difficult to see the sweet young girl that he had fallen for. He needed to get that cure, and soon, before the Elena Gilbert that he knew and loved disappeared for good.

* * *

The ringing phone pierced through the silence in the boarding house, causing Damon to jolt upright in his bed. He wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep. Turning to the alarm clock on his side table, he groaned as he saw that it was 3:06am. Whoever was calling better have a damn good reason, or he was going to do some damage.

"What?!" he barked after snatching the phone from its cradle and holding it against his ear. Loud sobbing and incoherent wails filtered through the phone. Frowning, he pulled it away from his head to check the caller ID.

"Elena? Elena, calm down. What's wrong?" More crying ensued. "Elena, I can't understand what you're saying. Calm down!" After a few more minutes of encouraging her to take deep, soothing breaths, she was finally calm. "What's wrong?"

"I didn't mean to Damon, I swear. I was just, I was so mad, because you were looking at her and I was jealous because you never look at me like that anymore and you were holding her and I didn't…I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt her, I was just trying to-"

"Elena, stop! What are you talking about?" Silence followed. "Elena?"

"It's Bonnie, Damon. I killed her."


	4. Chapter 4

Caroline Forbes had been through a lot in her short life. At the tender age of 17, she had been turned into a vampire, suffocated by a maniac who had her friend's face. Before this, her father had left her and her mother, her mother was too engrossed in her job as sheriff of the town and she had been used as a human blood bag/sex slave by the new boyfriend of her aforementioned friend, who just happened to be said friend's ex-boyfriends older brother.

Yeah. _Confusing_.

But, finally, she had found happiness. Her relationship with her mother had improved. Although her father had chosen to die rather than complete the transition to become a vampire and he had tortured her using the Sun's rays and blood, but she had found comfort within the arms of her saviour and boyfriend, Tyler Lockwood.

Tyler had surprised her. Never would she have guessed that beneath the douche-y exterior, there was a sensitive, loving, yet misunderstood young man just waiting for the right person to show it to. She was glad that she was that person.

The ringing of her mobile brought her out of her musings. Extracting herself from the warm circle of Tyler's arms, she quickly checked the caller ID and, rolling her eyes as she did so, begrudgingly answered the call.

"What do you want, Damon?"

"Caroline, I…I need your help." Sitting bolt upright in her bed, she frowned. Something was off. Never had she heard Damon sound so desperate, so _despondent._

"What's going on? What's wrong?" She heard him take a deep breath before he answered, which only served to increase her anxiety.

"It's Bonnie, Caroline. She's dead. I'm so sor-" She didn't hear the rest of his sentence as she dropped her phone, hearing it shatter as it made contact with the hardwood floor. It was only when Tyler's arms wrapped around her and she heard his worried voice asking her what was wrong that she realised that the anguished screams she heard were coming from her.

* * *

There wasn't a lot that shocked Matt Donovan anymore. After finding out that vampires, werewolves, doppelgängers and witches existed and the very people that he cared about the most were included in the supernatural world, he could honestly say that there was little that he wouldn't believe anymore.

Yet, when he answered his phone to find out that Elena Gilbert, his ex-girlfriend and one of his closest friends, had murdered Bonnie Bennett, her own surrogate sister and another of his closest friends, he could honestly say that before the grief could set in, his initial reaction was shock. He had been stunned into silence, damn near confused as he tried to process the words that Tyler was spewing into his ear. He could hear the agonised sobs of Caroline in the background and the sorrow in Tyler's voice was palpable, and yet he was unable to comprehend that the one person who they had all fought so diligently to save and had lost so dearly to keep alive had turned out to be the one to take the life of one of their own.  
After a few moments attempting to listen to Tyler explain the situation, he hung up and walked dazedly to his truck. After climbing in and inserting the keys into the ignition, he stared out of the wind shield, a frown marring his face. A few moments later, Tyler's words sunk in. _Bonnie was dead_. It was then that he began to cry.

* * *

She was hot. _Too hot_. Her eyes flicked open and she realised that she was in the direct glare of the Sun. Sitting up, she saw that she was in a desert. There was nothing around for miles other than sand.

"Bonnie." She whirled around and came face to face with her smiling grandmother.

"Grams?" Tears filled her eyes as she staggered to her feet and ran into her grandmother's open arms. "Grams, I missed you so much. What are you doing here? Where are we?"

"I don't have much time, baby." Bonnie frowned.

"What do you mean? What's going on?"

"Baby, you have to go back. Your time isn't up yet. He needs you just as much as you're going to need him." The ground beneath her feet began to shake.

"Grams, what are you talking about? What's going on? GRAMS!" She fell to the ground as it split open, leaving a gaping abyss between her and her grandmother.

"Hold on, baby! Be strong for me!"

"GRAMS!" A force pushed her and suddenly she was falling, her screams snatched by the wind rushing past her face. She braced herself for impact with the ground, but instead of the searing pain she should have felt, her eyes snapped open as she gasped for breath.

_It had begun._


	5. Chapter 5

Fear was an emotion that, for a long time, Damon Salvatore had disassociated himself with. Excluding the time when he thought that he was going to die due to the werewolf bite he sustained from the mutt, Tyler, he couldn't say that anything had really instilled pure fear into him since he was human.

Until he found out that Bonnie Bennett was dead.

Pure, unadulterated fear had seeped into his skin and gripped both his throat and heart until he could barely breathe.

Bonnie Bennett. His Judgy. _Dead_.

Agonising pain ripped through him, bringing him to his knees as he finally opened himself up to what he had been feeling over the past few months.

He was in love with Bonnie Bennett, and now she was dead.

Dead.

_Dead_.

No matter how many times he said it to himself, it was hard to believe; the witch was never supposed to die. Eventually, she would have been turned into a vampire and spent the rest of eternity with her two best friends, his brother and _himself_. He was meant to have the rest of eternity to figure out his feelings for her and now…now he was left with _nothing_. Fighting to regain his breath, Damon stumbled out of the boarding house's doors, away from the mourning 'Scooby Gang' inside, and gulped in the fresh air. His head was spinning, his hands were shaking and he could feel the long forgotten feeling of tears welling up in his eyes.

_How did he let this happen?_

He wasn't sure how long he sat outside, allowing his sorrow and heartbreak to swallow him whole, before he heard it.

Elena let out a loud shriek. Damon jumped out from his seat on the steps outside the boarding house and raced inside, up the stairs and into his room where he had left her crying over Bonnie's dead body.

Except, the 'dead body' was sitting up ramrod straight in his bed, her eyes wide open and her hands clawing at her throat as she gulped in huge breaths of air.

"Bonnie! Oh my gosh, GUYS! SHE'S AWAKE, BONNIE'S AWAKE!" Caroline, Stefan and Tyler sped into the room, followed a short while later by Matt and Jeremy, who did not have the luxury of supernatural speed. Bonnie's wild eyes travelled around the room, falling on each of her closest friends, each of which had varying expressions of awe, relief and utter shock on their faces.

"Bonnie!" Caroline sobbed and pulled her best friend into a crushing hug.

Damon stood frozen in the doorway, his mouth hanging open, his brain uncomprehending.

She was alive.

_She was alive._

How was this possible? She had died, Elena had killed her. He had seen he snapped neck, had to hold her head up as he carried her to his car from the Lockwood property where Elena had killed her.

And yet…she wasn't. She was alive, sitting in his bed, tears falling from her red, veiny eyes as she stared hungrily at Matt and Jeremy.

_Wait…what?!_

Caroline's shocked scream was the only alert that the room had before she was thrown off of Bonnie who lunged across the room in the direction of the two human boys.

Damon was there before she could bury her fangs deep into the jugular of whichever boy she reached first, his arms clamped tightly around her small waist, holding her back as she growled, straining against his grip, the enticing sound of their hearts pumping their blood around their bodies and the smell of their blood driving her near insane.

"Bonnie. Bonnie, calm down. _Calm down_." He mumbled into her hair. The horrified gasps and cries of her friends were drowned out by the _thud-thud-thudding_ of Matt and Jeremy's hearts.

She needed blood and she needed it _now_.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Caroline screeched, turning her furious glare on Elena. "SHE WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BECOME LIKE US! YOU DID THIS TO HER! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU _**SO MUCH**_!" She turned her head into Tyler's chest, her sobs muffled by his shirt. Elena's wide eyes were trained on the scene unfolding before her.

Except that they weren't really. All she saw was Damon's arms around Bonnie's waist, his face burrowed in her hair, his hands gently stroking the exposed skin above the waistband of her jeans. An animalistic growl was ripped from her throat and before she knew it, she was across the room, pulling the pair apart and snarling in Bonnie's face.

"Don't you _**ever**_ put your hands on him again."

The veins suddenly receded from beneath Bonnie's eyes and she looked around the room, horrified. Her hands flew up to her mouth as she took in the shocked, upset and slightly scared expressions on her friends' faces.

"No." Her eyes filled with tears and she stumbled backwards.

"NO!" Everyone in the room winced at the sheer anguish in her voice as she dissolved into heartbroken sobs. "What did you do to me?" Her eyes were trained on Elena, her voice quiet and shaky. She received no answer from the girl whom she had once considered her closest friend. "_**WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?**_" She grabbed a lamp from Damon's bedside table and flung it across the room where it hit a wall and shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces.

"Bon, please. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"_How could you do this to me?_" The potent grief in her voice was enough to break the hearts of all of the people standing in the room with her. "I was your best friend, _how could you do this to me?_"

"Bonnie-" Elena reached out a hand to touch her, but Bonnie slapped it away before it could come into contact with her.

"**DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN!**"

"Elena, I think you'd better go now." Damon stood protectively in front of Bonnie, shielding her from Elena's view.

"Damon-"

"Leave, Elena. _**NOW!**_" Elena growled and made to reach for him before thinking better of it and retracting her hand.

"You'll regret this, Damon." She lingered for a moment longer, glowering at him before turning and stalking out of the room. As soon as the boarding house door slammed shut, everyone in the room seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and relax slightly. Damon turned and pulled Bonnie back into his arms-_where she belonged_. He inhaled her scent again, as if committing it to his memory; who knew when the next time he would have the opportunity to hold her would arise.

"Bonnie," he mumbled into her hair, "you need to feed." She pushed hard against his chest.

"No, I can't. I'm not…_I can't_." Damon and the other inhabitants of the room frowned.

"What the hell do you mean, you can't?" She ran a trembling hand through her hair.

"Damon, I'm a witch. That's all I've ever been. How can you expect me to become a _vampire_? _I can't_." He growled and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her slightly.

"If you don't feed, _you'll die_. You'd honestly rather _die _than become a vampire? You hate this lifestyle _that much_?" Tears, once again filled her eyes and her bottom lip began to tremble.

"Please, Damon. You have to understand-"

"UNDERSTAND _**WHAT? **_THAT YOU WANT TO DIE AND LEAVE BEHIND ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT YOU?"

Behind them, the rest of the room looked on in both horror and fascination at the scene unfolding before them.

"I CAN'T DAMON! I'M NOT MEANT TO BE A VAMPIRE! _**I CAN'T TURN!**_" The silence that followed her exclamation was deafening.

"Bonnie-"

"Just let it go Damon." With that statement, she walked out of the room, her head bowed to hide the tears that had reappeared in her eyes and had begun to stream down her cheeks. Damon felt his hear finally shatter into millions of tiny pieces.

_He had just got her back, and now he was going to lose her again._


	6. Chapter 6

Bonnie hugged her arms around herself, staring out of the open window at the slowly rising sun. The burn at the back of her throat signified the bloodlust that she was trying, with all her might, to hold at bay. A throat clearing behind her caused her to whirl around, bringing her face to face with Tyler Lockwood.

Bonnie and Tyler had never been particularly close. They hung out with the same circle of friends, they went to all the same parties and they worked together to get rid of whichever evil entity blew into town to try and kill them, but they had never really sat down together to talk since they were little kids. He smiled warily at her as he took a few more steps into the room.

"How're you feeling?" he asked gently. She snorted and turned back to face the window.

"Considering my best friend killed me and turned me into something that I never wanted to be, I'm pretty good." He came a little bit closer and hesitantly wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"You know, when I was first turned, I was so happy. Being a hybrid meant that I didn't have to turn if I didn't want to, I didn't have to die and leave behind Caroline and the people that I loved. I thought that it was a blessing, y'know? But then I found out that I was sired to Klaus, and Rebekah made me feed on this girl and I was hurting Caroline and it just felt like everything was falling apart around me. It took me a while to realise it, but being a vampire, even if I'm only half-vampire, wasn't all I'd chalked it up to being in my head."

"You know, if you're trying to convince me to turn, you're doing a pretty crappy job." Tyler grinned and shook his head.

"I'm not trying to convince you to do anything; it's your choice. I'm just saying that, I was pretty much alone in this. Yeah, I had support from Caroline and, in their own twisted way, the Originals, but no one else understood what it was like to be a sired hybrid. You don't have to go through that. You have Caroline and the Salvatore's and…well, you've got me if you need me." She smiled.

"Thanks, Ty." He whistled.

"Wow. No one has called me that nickname in ages, Bon-Bon." She laughed at his use of her childhood nickname.

"Same here." They stood in a comfortable silence for a while, just watching the sunrise.

"You know, I think Damon might have a thing for you." Bonnie scoffed.

"Damon Salvatore does not have a _thing_ for me. He loves Elena. We hate each other." Tyler turned his head to look at her, an inscrutable look on his face.

"You don't seriously believe that, do you?"

"Ty..." He could hear the warning in her voice and held his hands up in surrender.

"I'm just saying, Damon hasn't _hated _you for a long time, and I think you know that, because...because I don't think you hate him either. Not anymore."

* * *

Damon watched the hands of the clock moving. The ticking sounds seemed to be magnified and all he could think was that with every second that passed, Bonnie came closer to permanent death.

"Damon." His posture stiffened, but he didn't turn as he heard his brother approaching. Stefan gently sat beside him on the couch in front of the clock, his eyes fixed ahead. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Damon nursing a glass of bourbon in his hands. "You love her." Although it was intended as a question, it came out as a statement. Damon flinched, but otherwise showed no outwardly acknowledgement of his brother. Stefan sighed deeply. "Damon, I know that you and I haven't always had the best relationship, but…I'm your brother. I'm here if you want to talk, you know. About anything. I know that we've had our differences, but I don't want you to think that I don't care about y-"

"Stefan." Damon interrupted, holding up his hand to prevent him from going further. "Stop talking, okay? Just stop, stop trying to bond with me, stop trying to comfort me, stop acting like you're not happy that after years of me making your life miserable, you're not happy that karma has come back to bite me in the ass. I get it, okay. I deserve this. I deserve to lose Bonnie, because I have done terrible things, not just to you but to her and the people that she loves and complete strangers on the road, just because I could. I'm not a good guy and I never have been, so why would I get the good girl, a girl that would put me first and not just, '_first after Stefan_'? I never deserved her and now I can't have her because she's going to die and she's going to take what's left of my soul with her. So thanks for the offer, but I'm not feeling like having a brotherly heart-to-heart right now." Silence followed Damon's long-winded speech before he let out a groan and threw back the remaining bourbon in his cup before standing to his feet. "I think your brooding has started to rub off on me," he said before speeding out of the room. Stefan couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle at his brother's ever-present snark even as he felt his heart break slightly at the self-deprecating attitude that Damon had towards himself.

"No one deserves this, Damon. Not even you, no matter what you've done."

* * *

"Can I help you with anything ma'am?" A devious smirk crept upon Elena's face as she turned to the shop assistant smiling warmly at her.

"Actually you can." She walked closer to her and gazed deeply into her eyes, allowing her powers of compulsion to keep the woman where she stood. "You are going to go to the Salvatore boarding house. You will ask to speak to Bonnie Bennett; tell them that her father has some news for her that he wanted you to deliver to her. You will then cut yourself and you will allow her to feed on you. Do you understand?"

"I understand." The woman replied, monotonously. Elena's grin widened.

_This was going to be good._


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I'm not really one for author's notes, but I just want to say a massive thank you for all of the reviews, favourites and follows. I'm not too happy with this chapter, but I wanted to get something out for you guys. Updates should be a bit more frequent now as my exams are coming to an end and I get an extra month off of school. Thanks so much guys! You can follow me on Tumblr under the same name, and enjoy my many rants about TVD; otherwise, read on and enjoy (also, see if you can spot the subtle Stefan the Bamon Fanboy moment that I put in)!**

* * *

"Bonnie?" She turned her head and came face to face with the younger Gilbert who just so happened to be her boyfriend. Her _abusive _boyfriend. She attempted to plaster a smile on her face, but she couldn't find the energy within herself to put on a happy show.

"Jeremy." He approached her carefully, as if afraid that at any moment, she would pounce and drain him of all of the blood left in his body.

"How're you holding up?" He asked when he was a few feet away. She shrugged, doing everything in her power to distract herself from the enticing scent of his blood and the _thump-thump-thumping _of his heart pumping it around his body. "Bon, I-"

"What do you want, Jeremy? The only reason that I can think for you being here is if you have a death wish or you want to stake me, and seeing as the latter is more likely given your current…hunter-status, I would advise you to leave me the hell alone." Jeremy's eyes widened a fraction and his slow steps towards her faltered.

"Bonnie, I would never…I'm not here to hurt you. I would never try to hurt you." She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"You would never hurt me? That's a joke-have you forgotten all the times when you would slap me, or push me over or kick me? Gosh, I was such an _**idiot**_! I made excuses for you times and time again, I was so freaking _**stupid**_ for letting you treat me like that, and now you're going to stand there and tell me that you would never hurt me? Do you seriously think I'm that dumb, huh?" Jeremy stood there, his mouth hanging open, and Bonnie could feel herself losing her grip on her temper and bloodlust. The pounding of his heart seemed to have increased tenfold, and she could feel the veins beginning to creep across her face.

Suddenly, Damon was there, putting himself between the arguing couple and glaring at Jeremy.

"Get. Out. _**Now**_." Jeremy opened his mouth to protest, but a feral snarl from Damon sent him tripping over his own feet to exit the room as quickly as possible. Damon turned to Bonnie, his expression softening at the pained expression on her face.

"Bon-"

"I was going to kill him." She whispered, breathlessly. Damon frowned.

"You were just angry. Your emotions are heightened, so your anger becomes rage in an instant; that doesn't mean that you were going to kill him." She looked up, tears swimming in her eyes.

"No, Damon. I wanted to _kill _him. I was going to do it." The silence was suffocating and Damon was unsure of what to do with himself.

"Bonnie-"

"You would help me, right? If I were to turn…you would teach me?" Her voice was quiet and vulnerable and Damon had never heard a more beautiful sound in his life. Reaching for her, he tugged on her arm until her face rested on his chest and his arms wrapped around her. He buried his face into her hair and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head.

"I'd like to see you _try _to keep me away." He mumbled, his grip on her tightening as if, at any moment, she would be snatched away from him. He committed everything he could about her to his memory; the texture of her hair beneath his chin, the silkiness of her skin, her natural, slightly spicy scent, the way her soft, petite body moulded perfectly to the hard planes and sharp angles of his own, as if she had been made specifically for him, an idea which he was gradually becoming more convinced of as the two of them spent more time together. Pulling away slightly, he looked down into her eyes, which were shining a brilliant green and smiled gently.

"What are you doing to me, Bonnie Bennett?" She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by the sound of the doorbell ringing. A frown marred her features and he gently ran his thumb along the crease that had formed between her eyebrows, smoothing it out. "Don't do that." He whispered.

"Do what?" Her breath was coming out in short, erratic spurts, and she could feel her hands shaking, although she tried hard to tell herself that it was nothing to do with Damon's proximity and everything to do with her fragile emotions due to her newly undead status.

"Frown like that…you're too beautiful to frown." Bonnie's breath caught in her throat and for a long, intense moment, the pair just stared into each other's eyes. Bonnie's eyes lit up and then she was pushing him away, raucous laughter bubbling in her throat and spilling out of her lips.

"Oh gosh, if anyone had told me a few weeks ago that I'd be at the receiving end of your creepy everlasting devotion, I probably would have-"

"_Creepy? _I am _not __**creepy**_!" Bonnie chuckled and pushed against his chest again, increasing the distance between them.

"You're kind of creepy, Damon."  
"_I am not!_" The pitch of his voice rose to an almost feminine tone. "I am intense, longing, on a bad day, broody but I am **not **creepy." Bonnie laughed, almost manically as she danced around him, avoiding his fingers which reached for her.

"Bonnie?" Caroline's voice floated through the door and her head tentatively peeked around it. Her eyes fell on Bonnie's smiling face and Damon's playful scowl and her eyebrows rose a fraction, although she kept all judgement to herself; Bonnie had been through enough already. "Bon, there's someone here to see you." Damon frowned.

"I know I call you Barbie, but I'm sure you have enough brains to know that now isn't really a good time for Bonnie to be entertaining visitors." Caroline scowled fiercely at him.

"I _know_ that Damon. We tried to tell her that, but she won't leave. She's insisting on seeing Bonnie, she said that she has really important news from her dad." With that statement, Bonnie's smile was wiped, completely from her face.

"My dad?" She took a step towards the door, but Damon's hand clamped around her forearm, holding her in place. She turned to face him. "Damon…" her tone was a warning.

"Bonnie, this isn't a good idea. You're still in transition-"

"I haven't forgotten that, _Damon_." He winced at the venom in her voice.

"Bonnie, I'm just trying to help."

"Well stop! I'm a big girl, Damon, so stop trying to help me!" Ripping her arm from his grip, she stepped around Caroline and disappeared through the doorway. Growling, he glared intensely at Caroline, hoping that, for once, looks would actually be able to kill. Unfortunately, he was not that lucky and, letting out a squeak, Caroline ducked out of his room, quickly following Bonnie down the stairs. Mumbling under his breath, he dragged his feet after the duo, stalking down the stairs to see what the mystery visitor wanted with Bonnie.

* * *

_Blood._

As Bonnie rounded the corner from the stairs to the front door of the boarding house, the enticing smell of blood surrounded her. She could feel herself falling into a haze of bloodlust, but she was defenceless to stop it. Her feet, as if they had minds of their own, propelled her towards the door, the red veins under her eyes appearing suddenly. She rounded the final corner and came face to face with a young woman, probably in her early thirties, her palm sliced open and blood gushing from the wound, coating her hand a deep crimson. Her eyes were blank and unseeing as she waited patiently at the door, her hand extended before her. Her blood called to Bonnie who stared curiously at her, all the while moving closer. Her gums were throbbing as she ran a finger through the scarlet liquid and raised the appendage to her lips, licking it clean. With a guttural moan, she snatched up the woman's hand and fused her lips to the wound, gulping down her life-essence.

She was abruptly pulled off of the woman, her mouth disconnecting from her hand with a wet snap. Snarling, she blindly reached for the woman again, fighting against the barrier which separated her from the blood.

_She needed more._

"Bonnie, stop! _**STOP**__!_" The sound of Damon's assertive voice pierced through her hunger like a knife. She stopped struggling, becoming aware of Damon's arms clamped around her waist, again, and of Caroline having a quiet conversation with the woman at the door; _compelling her_. The woman turned and walked quickly away and Caroline turned to her best friend, a sad smile on her face. Bonnie looked between the two wildly, wiping the blood from her face.

"What have I done? Caroline, what did I do?" Her voice was hysterical and drew the attention of the other occupants of the house, who all came to stand in the hall, surrounding her. Her eyes flickered across all of their faces, her gaze wide-eyed and panicked, as she wiped furiously at the blood coating her face.

A searing pain suddenly emanated from her gums and she let out a piercing scream, curling into Damon's chest as her legs gave out and she fell to the floor. Jeremy took a step forwards, but Stefan held out his hand, restricting him from going any further.

"Move, Stefan." Stefan shot a deadpan look at him, but his arm remained firmly in place. "Stefan, she's in pain! Move out of my way!"

"Damon's got her." Stefan replied lowly, turning back to the scene before him, one of his eyebrows quirked in interest at watching Damon interacting with Bonnie. Jeremy growled deep in his throat and made to barrel past Stefan, but the vampire grabbed him by the throat and pushed him up against the wall. "Damon's got her, Jeremy, and the worst thing you can do for anyone right now is try to insert yourself into the situation, so grow up and stop acting like a spoilt brat who just got his toys taken from him." He calmly released the younger Gilbert sibling and turned back to the pair on the floor in front of him, seemingly unaffected by the minor showdown which had just occurred between himself and Jeremy. Jeremy scowled and clenched his hands into tight fists by his sides, but remained in his position between Stefan and Matt, whose eyes were as round as saucers as her watched his pseudo sister writhing in pain on the ground whilst being soothed by none other than Damon Salvatore, vampire asshole and man-slut extraordinaire; and yet the scene unfolding before him seemed almost…natural. Bonnie had curled into Damon's embrace, as if she had forgotten all of the terrible things he had done to her, and no one seemed to feel any inclination to stop it.

Bonnie raised her face, her eyes connecting with Damon's. Her eyes were red, veins standing out against her skin, blood coating her chin and cheeks and her new fangs shone red in the artificial light of the hall.

_She was beautiful._


End file.
